October 21, 2008

David Gordon Green Goes The Horror Route!

Up until Pineapple Express this year, Green had been a mainstay in indie cinema (and one of my personal favorite budding auteurs) and made his first studio film a successful one, so it'll be interesting to see what he does with this project, as The Hollywood Reporter, well...reports:

-Overture Films has tapped David Gordon Green to direct the horror thriller "Freaks of the Heartland," written by freshman scribes Peter Sattler and Geoff Davey. The company recently purchased the rights to the Dark Horse graphic novel written by Steve Niles.Green and Dark Horse Entertainment president Mike Richardson are producing. Niles, who also wrote "30 Days of Night," is executive producing.Illustrated by Greg Ruth, Niles' six-part 2004 series about the horrible secret of a rural Middle American town involves Trevor Owen's attempts to protect his "monster" of a 6-year-old younger brother and Gristlewood Valley's other "freaks" from their parents' worst instincts.Overture COO Danny Rosett, who worked with Green on his 2004 film "Undertow" when Rosett was at United Artists, pre-emptively purchased the rights for the company.Overture continues to accelerate its development of genre material; it has "Pandorum" shooting in Berlin and "The Crazies," a reinvention of George A. Romero's 1973 horror film, in development with Breck Eisner attached to direct.The Liberty Media studio also recently acquired remake rights to the Swedish horror film "Let the Right One In," which "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves will write and direct; the Icelandic mystery "Jar City"; and the Israeli comedy "92 Minutes."Overture has "Last Chance Harvey" and "Nothing Like the Holidays" releasing before year's end. "Righteous Kill" was its most recent opening.Green, who is repped by CAA and the Gotham Group, most recently directed "Pineapple Express" and "Snow Angels." Gotham also reps Sattler, Davey and Dark Horse. Niles is repped by CAA.